Yes, the Volkswagen Golf GTI is seen as the king of the hot-hatch category. But with the development of time, more and more extreme cars appear, so it is not surprising that today the predatory R models (formerly R32 ) stand above the GTI . In the early 1990s, Volkswagen first ventured into this territory with the Rallye G60 model. And it is these rare models that are celebrating their twenty-fifth birthday this year.
The origin of this car is mainly sport, specifically rally . Volkswagen regularly started in the rally first with Beetle models, later with Golf in GTI versions. With the GTI of the second generation, which had a sixteen-valve engine under the hood, Volkswagen became the world champion in Group A in 1986. At that time, however, the monsters of Group B were driving, so almost no one was interested in this title. A year later, with the GTI 16V , Kenneth Eriksson won the Ivory Coast Rally in absolute order, which was the impetus to build a car capable of winning regularly. Let's recall that the championship was dominated this year by the Lancia Delta HF 4WD and the Mazda 323 4WD tried to compete with it. So it was clear that it was necessary to build a car with all-wheel drive and ideally with a turbocharged engine. The 4×4 drive was derived from the Syncro system, but the bigger problem was with the second condition.
For production versions, the G40 and G60 models were produced at the time with a blower driven by the crankshaft via a toothed belt. This solution eliminates the lag experienced by a classic exhaust-driven turbocharger . This system was delivered to the inline four-cylinder SOHC 1.8 8V, the volume of which was also reduced by almost half a liter. There was also an intercooler . The total output of the new unit was 282 hp, the torque was 330 Nm, and the car accelerated to 100 km/h in less than 6 seconds. There were self-locking differentials front and rear, McPherson suspension at the front, sports arms with coil springs at the rear. The car had an exclusively three-door body with a distinctive bodykit and angular headlights reminiscent of the Jetta model. The weight of the car was approximately 1075 kg. The transmission was six-speed, and the steering was rack-and-pinion with power steering. A complete homologation series was produced during 1989 in Brussels . However, the price was almost double compared to the GTI .
In racing, the first start was the Rally Costa Smeralda , where Kenneth Eriksson finished in sixth position. In the World Championship , the first start was the Acropolis rally , which Erwin Weber did not finish after a technical fault. But he already took third place in New Zealand, full of technical tracks. On the contrary, the fast nature of the competition in Australia did not suit the relatively weak car, and it was finally disqualified for unauthorized displacement from the starting zone. Volkswagen Motorsport decided to withdraw from the World Championship, although a better gearbox and clutch had been developed. Raimund Baumschlager started the Czech Rally Bohemia with the car, where he beat the second BMW M3 by five minutes. For 1991, VW moved to the German championship. Baumschlager mostly had to retire with technical problems and only won the Rallye Semperit , but Weber won four events and became the German champion . This secured his participation in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany team. The lone Baumschlager failed to win any other competition the following year and factory participation was definitively terminated. Volkswagen Motorsport began work on the A59 special, which was to be based on the third generation, but the car was never fully completed. The Wolfsburg cars then only appeared in the Kit Car category.
Civilian versions have become very rare and their price on the used market is constantly increasing. So when you come across a two -wheel drive Golf somewhere with a Jetta mask, make sure it's really just the product of a clumsy tuner, or you've accidentally encountered a great rarity.
Photo: AutoWP
